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Greg Anthony and the NBA Conference Finals · Rosters to Rings Podcast

0:04
Speaker 1: Welcome to Rosters to Rings. I'm here with co host
0:08
Speaker 1: Ryan McDonough.
0:09
Speaker 2: Ryan.
0:09
Speaker 1: We're in the middle of the semifinals in the NBA,
0:12
Speaker 1: and these games have been absolutely riveting. We've seen everything
0:15
Speaker 1: from blowouts to massive comebacks. In your career, can you
0:19
Speaker 1: remember this number of games that teams were down by
0:22
Speaker 1: twenty and ultimately ended up winning them?
0:25
Speaker 3: Not this many that and the irony of it is
0:27
Speaker 3: a lot of them involved the same team. The New
0:30
Speaker 3: York Knicks, who were down twenty in the first two
0:32
Speaker 3: games in Boston in the second round, came back and
0:35
Speaker 3: won in historic fashion. And what may decide the NBA
0:39
Speaker 3: Conference Finals in the East as we record the show,
0:41
Speaker 3: we're in the middle of the Eastern and Western Conference
0:43
Speaker 3: Finals in the NBA. What may decide the Eastern Conference Finals, ironically,
0:47
Speaker 3: is that blown Knicks lead at home in Game one.
0:51
Speaker 3: You know it is the Tyres Haliburton game where the
0:53
Speaker 3: shot went up, hit the back of the rim, bounced
0:55
Speaker 3: to the rafters of Madison Square Garden, then came straight
0:57
Speaker 3: down through the net. Haliburton went to the Chokes signed
1:00
Speaker 3: maybe a little bit prematurely, but the Pacers did go
1:03
Speaker 3: on to win that game in overtime, So no, I
1:06
Speaker 3: can't remember it. And that's been a theme of some
1:09
Speaker 3: of the smartest commentators and folks who cover the NBA
1:12
Speaker 3: respect is the prevalence of the three point shot, the
1:16
Speaker 3: pace of the game. You're going to have these wild
1:18
Speaker 3: swings and these win probabilities tend to go out the window.
1:22
Speaker 3: And we're going to talk to a guy here in
1:23
Speaker 3: Greg Anthony that I think covers the league as well
1:26
Speaker 3: as anybody. And Greg's got such a unique perspective because
1:29
Speaker 3: he was on a national stage at a young age
1:31
Speaker 3: at UNLV. He was on those famous run and Rebels
1:34
Speaker 3: teams late eighties early nineties, coached by Jerry Tarkanian. He
1:38
Speaker 3: had multiple teammates get drafted in the lottery and Larry
1:42
Speaker 3: Johnson and Stacy Agman. But also he's very current, not
1:45
Speaker 3: only for the fact that he broadcasts NBA games for
1:48
Speaker 3: TNT for NBA TV. He also has a son, Cole
1:51
Speaker 3: who's playing in the NBA in the Orlando Magic. He's
1:54
Speaker 3: also the voice of NBA two K. So that as
1:57
Speaker 3: you and I welcomed in his first guest, I think
1:59
Speaker 3: we both especially this time of year, Ji in the
2:01
Speaker 3: NBA Conference Finals, that he'd be the perfect guy.
2:05
Speaker 2: I mean he is.
2:05
Speaker 1: He's a wonderful guest to have and a good friend
2:07
Speaker 1: of yours. You know, when you look back at those
2:10
Speaker 1: Running Rebels teams in my childhood, I remember of the
2:13
Speaker 1: Fi Slama Gym and then later on after those guys,
2:16
Speaker 1: you had the Fab Five, and it's like those were
2:18
Speaker 1: the three best college basketball teams of my lifetime that
2:22
Speaker 1: I could ever remember. And you know you mentioned it
2:24
Speaker 1: when they played that Duke team. I don't know this
2:27
Speaker 1: for a fact, but I have to believe that may
2:28
Speaker 1: have been the most NBA players in the starting five,
2:32
Speaker 1: you know, facing each other. Because the Running Rebels had
2:35
Speaker 1: five guys who went onto the NBA. I think Duke
2:37
Speaker 1: had three or four. That's an incredible consideration, especially when
2:42
Speaker 1: you think of the college basketball dynamic today where guys
2:46
Speaker 1: buy and larger are transferring every year and going or
2:49
Speaker 1: they're one and done. The fact that they had so
2:51
Speaker 1: many NBA players on that court are exceptional, and the
2:54
Speaker 1: perspectives he'll be able to give to our fans I
2:57
Speaker 1: think will be incredible.
2:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a different time in college basketball and something
3:01
Speaker 3: that's not going to be replicated with Nil with the
3:04
Speaker 3: one and done era of the elite prospects. These guys
3:07
Speaker 3: became household names. Greg Anthony at UNLV on the other side,
3:11
Speaker 3: Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill at Duke, those guys met one
3:16
Speaker 3: of the most historic games in the history of college basketball.
3:18
Speaker 3: And then Greg continued to be on a big stage.
3:20
Speaker 3: I mean, imagine going from their Thad to the New
3:22
Speaker 3: York Knicks. Of all teams, he was there playing against
3:25
Speaker 3: Reggie Miller in the Pacers. He also played against you know,
3:28
Speaker 3: Michael Jordan and those guys in their heyday. And then
3:30
Speaker 3: from there he went on to the Pacific Northwest and
3:32
Speaker 3: had a long and successful NBA career there. So, as
3:35
Speaker 3: he pointed out, he's a fantastic guy. He's actually a
3:37
Speaker 3: big baseball fan as well an excellent broadcaster, and he
3:41
Speaker 3: and I have a lot of fun when I go
3:42
Speaker 3: down to Atlanta and do NBA TV, both on and
3:45
Speaker 3: off air. Off air is probably more fun Thad. But
3:47
Speaker 3: since this is a family show here in Roster Rings,
3:49
Speaker 3: we'll save those stories for another day. But Greg Anthony
3:52
Speaker 3: a terrific guy, terrific guest here on Rosters to Rings.
3:56
Speaker 1: It'll be wonderful, you know, run and I'm sure he'll
3:58
Speaker 1: give his perspective on this about kind of the changing
4:01
Speaker 1: of the guard in the NBA as we're seeing these
4:03
Speaker 1: four young superstars on these teams and Jalen Brunson and
4:06
Speaker 1: Sga and Ant and Halliburton and all the magical things
4:10
Speaker 1: that they're showing our fans. He came into the game
4:13
Speaker 1: when Bird and Magic the era was kind of winding down,
4:17
Speaker 1: and he was getting to see Michael Jordan in that
4:19
Speaker 1: new era of form, and I'd be curious as to
4:21
Speaker 1: his take on this new era of players. And you
4:23
Speaker 1: referenced earlier the performance of Haliburton and Brunson latent games
4:27
Speaker 1: has just been incredible. And you know, one of the
4:29
Speaker 1: debates we'll have ongoing on rosters to rings is the
4:32
Speaker 1: influx of analytics and how much it shaped how we
4:35
Speaker 1: make decisions in front offices. But one thing that I
4:38
Speaker 1: know in baseball was really tough to predict was this
4:40
Speaker 1: notion of being a clutch performer. Well, I think we're
4:43
Speaker 1: seeing guys who are just absolutely off the charts in
4:45
Speaker 1: terms of clutch performance. You referenced Reggie Miller. You know,
4:49
Speaker 1: the Halliburton choke signal that he gave the other day.
4:52
Speaker 1: You don't do that unless you're a clutch performer and
4:54
Speaker 1: have some kind of some kind of confidence. But Ryan,
4:57
Speaker 1: as you see it, you know, like when you were
5:00
Speaker 1: building championship rosters, like, how much did you factor in
5:03
Speaker 1: this notion of like guys who just performed better in
5:06
Speaker 1: the highest pressure situations.
5:08
Speaker 3: Well, I think it's important, but it also can be
5:10
Speaker 3: hard to predict, especially now in the NBA thad when
5:13
Speaker 3: guys only play maybe one year of college basketball, and
5:16
Speaker 3: if they're not on a great team playing at the
5:17
Speaker 3: highest levels. You know, I think guys can develop and
5:20
Speaker 3: grow into those roles in time. And you're seeing in
5:23
Speaker 3: this year's playoffs, Tyres Haliburn in particular, is putting himself
5:26
Speaker 3: on the map as an elite closer, as a guy
5:29
Speaker 3: who can win close games at the highest levels, and
5:31
Speaker 3: he's making a reputation because of that. We'll see if
5:34
Speaker 3: the Pacers can close out the Knicks in advance to
5:36
Speaker 3: their first NBA Finals in twenty five years. But yeah,
5:40
Speaker 3: coming up, we're gonna have Greg Anthony here on rosters
5:43
Speaker 3: to rings. We're gonna get into all that the conference finals,
5:45
Speaker 3: his career at UNLV, his son Cole playing for the
5:49
Speaker 3: Orlando Magic two K stick with us Ryan Mcdonoughthed Levine,
5:53
Speaker 3: We'll be right back on Rosters to Ranks.
6:01
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Rosters to Rings with Ryan McDonough and
6:04
Speaker 1: your host Bad Levine. We're honored today to be joined
6:07
Speaker 1: by our first guest, a guy who has as comprehensive
6:10
Speaker 1: a basketball resume as you're going to find. And I'm
6:12
Speaker 1: going to turn it over to Ryan, a good friend
6:14
Speaker 1: of his, to introduce him.
6:15
Speaker 3: Yeah, welcome to the program, Greg Anthony. Greg grew up
6:18
Speaker 3: in Las Vegas played college basketball at UNLV for some
6:22
Speaker 3: of the most famous teams in college basketball history. He
6:26
Speaker 3: was coached by Jerry Tarkanian. They won the nineteen ninety
6:29
Speaker 3: national championship. They lost the next year against Duke after
6:33
Speaker 3: having an undefeated season. Greg, Welcome to Rosters to Rings.
6:37
Speaker 3: And since this is the Rosters to Rings podcast, let's
6:40
Speaker 3: start there with that nineteen ninety UNLV team and the
6:43
Speaker 3: championship ring. I know as a youngster growing up that
6:46
Speaker 3: really I thought, not only put college basketball on the
6:49
Speaker 3: map for a lot of folks nationally, but a lot
6:52
Speaker 3: of us became you know, UNLV fans, fans of yours.
6:55
Speaker 3: Larry Johnson Stacy Agman, etc. As you look back now,
7:00
Speaker 3: how about thirty five years later, what stands out to
7:02
Speaker 3: you about your time at UNLV.
7:05
Speaker 4: First the fact that it was thirty five years ago,
7:08
Speaker 4: because we literally all just got together as a group
7:12
Speaker 4: late last year and it was the first time obviously
7:14
Speaker 4: coaches not with us anymore, but it was the first
7:16
Speaker 4: time we had the entire team together since the championship,
7:21
Speaker 4: which was really weird. And we've had times where we've
7:24
Speaker 4: gotten six or seven or eight guys together, but never
7:27
Speaker 4: the entire group. So that was a pretty special moment,
7:29
Speaker 4: and it definitely the memories do kind of come back
7:32
Speaker 4: to you, you know, looking back. It was really unique
7:36
Speaker 4: for me personally because you know, I was born and
7:38
Speaker 4: raised in Las Vegas, and I grew up a huge
7:41
Speaker 4: UNLB fan, huge fan of coach Tarcanian. And I would
7:45
Speaker 4: tell a story when I was a little kid, fifth grade,
7:47
Speaker 4: you know, we we had one television. It was in
7:49
Speaker 4: my mom's room, and they would replay the Rebel games
7:53
Speaker 4: at midnight on the local KVVU channel five in Vegas,
7:57
Speaker 4: and so I would literally take my blame and I'd
8:00
Speaker 4: go in my mom's room and I.
8:01
Speaker 2: Put the blanket over the television.
8:03
Speaker 4: And over me and I turned the volume down, and
8:06
Speaker 4: I've watched their games and you know, they were the
8:09
Speaker 4: greatest show. And again this is I'm dating myself, but
8:12
Speaker 4: we didn't have the internet, we didn't have cable, so
8:14
Speaker 4: this was like a huge deal. And you know, I
8:17
Speaker 4: got to see them play in the Final four in
8:19
Speaker 4: seventy seven and then so the one day grow up
8:23
Speaker 4: and have the opportunity to play there. My fourth grade
8:26
Speaker 4: teacher is the one that told my mom, you know,
8:27
Speaker 4: if he ever gets his act together, one day, he
8:29
Speaker 4: could play at UNLV. And that changed my life, changed
8:32
Speaker 4: the entire trajectory of my life. First time somebody had
8:35
Speaker 4: given me hope that I could do something. And so
8:39
Speaker 4: fast forward to getting the opportunity to play for coach
8:41
Speaker 4: and with Larry and Stacey and those guys, and you know,
8:45
Speaker 4: it was a unique time in college athletics because you know,
8:49
Speaker 4: we were all good enough to leave school early, but
8:51
Speaker 4: we enjoyed the process. We wanted to have a chance
8:55
Speaker 4: to defend the national championship. And so those are memories
8:59
Speaker 4: that to this day, you know, you remember finally, you know,
9:05
Speaker 4: I tell the story. I literally have never had a
9:07
Speaker 4: day of my adult life where I've been out in
9:10
Speaker 4: public and someone hasn't asked me about that team, which
9:13
Speaker 4: is amazing. You know, because when you're playing and in
9:15
Speaker 4: the moment, you never think about history. You never think
9:19
Speaker 4: about the context of what it means to be a
9:22
Speaker 4: national champion. You know, you just like living your dream
9:24
Speaker 4: and it's like awesome and it's cool and it's fun.
9:27
Speaker 4: But now you know, looking back to see that it
9:31
Speaker 4: culturally had such a significant impact, it's pretty incredible. And yeah,
9:37
Speaker 4: it can be humbling at times to know that you
9:39
Speaker 4: were a part of something right because you know what,
9:42
Speaker 4: there's going to come a time when we're all dead
9:44
Speaker 4: and gone and buried. But to be able to have
9:47
Speaker 4: something that someone will at least be able to remember
9:50
Speaker 4: you by, I think is a pretty cool and awesome experience.
9:54
Speaker 2: Greig.
9:54
Speaker 1: One of the things that we talk about Ryan was
9:56
Speaker 1: fortunate enough to work for a franchise that won a championship,
10:00
Speaker 1: gone to two and lost them is like how galvanizing
10:03
Speaker 1: sometimes those losses can be. You know, you talk about
10:06
Speaker 1: the celebration of the triumph. You guys, then come back
10:09
Speaker 1: the next year you're as dominant. I mean, my recollection
10:12
Speaker 1: as a kid was you know, Fi Slama Jama was
10:15
Speaker 1: the standard of the best college teams I'd ever seen
10:19
Speaker 1: until you guys came along. And I mean it was
10:21
Speaker 1: just sheer, utter dominance, you know, And for you guys
10:25
Speaker 1: to just roll through nineteen ninety you rolled through nineteen
10:29
Speaker 1: ninety one. I'm sure you got into that final game
10:31
Speaker 1: with the expectation that you were gonna You're gonna knock
10:34
Speaker 1: Duke off again. Talk to us a little bit about
10:36
Speaker 1: like how galvanizing it was to win, But then like
10:39
Speaker 1: how much did that bring you guys together, that that
10:42
Speaker 1: defeat you had?
10:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, and you guys both being a part
10:46
Speaker 4: of sports, I don't think there's any question that you
10:49
Speaker 4: you generally remember the losses more than the wins. So
10:54
Speaker 4: losing the title our senior year, losing the Duke by
10:58
Speaker 4: two and they were team than they were a year before,
11:01
Speaker 4: but so were we. Uh.
11:04
Speaker 2: It was it was disappointing. It's frustrated.
11:06
Speaker 4: It was somewhat shocking too, because you did have the
11:08
Speaker 4: expectation of winning. But that's sports, And and I've said before,
11:13
Speaker 4: you know, the beauty of it, especially in the college basketball,
11:16
Speaker 4: because it's a single game elimination. You know, not like
11:19
Speaker 4: baseball basketball at the professional level, you know, you got
11:22
Speaker 4: to beat me four times, so you generally the best
11:24
Speaker 4: team's gonna win. But in college basketball, you know, more
11:28
Speaker 4: often than not more often but almost as equal as not,
11:32
Speaker 4: the best team doesn't win.
11:34
Speaker 2: Uh.
11:35
Speaker 4: And so that's just the nature of it. Being a
11:38
Speaker 4: young person, it was somewhat dramatic because you knew it
11:42
Speaker 4: was your last time playing college basketball, and so then
11:45
Speaker 4: they have to have your last moment be one of disappointment. Uh.
11:50
Speaker 4: It was a tough pill to swallow, it really was.
11:53
Speaker 4: Now it was helpful that we had won it the
11:56
Speaker 4: year prior. Uh, And that does ease the anxiety and
12:02
Speaker 4: the frustration a little bit, but it never takes it
12:06
Speaker 4: away totally. And I've had many We've had like as
12:09
Speaker 4: grown men sessions myself and Larry and Stacy where we
12:13
Speaker 4: sit around and we talked about, you know, what happened,
12:17
Speaker 4: have we done X, Y or Z a little better?
12:20
Speaker 4: You know, there was a lot of that that goes
12:22
Speaker 4: on and again we talk about that more than we
12:25
Speaker 4: do the year we wanted, which is kind of the
12:28
Speaker 4: irony of life in a lot of ways that you
12:31
Speaker 4: tendn't have put that much effort and energy into the
12:34
Speaker 4: disappointment and sometimes forget the fact that, hey, we did
12:37
Speaker 4: win a national championship that you know, that will always
12:40
Speaker 4: be a part of our legacy and our resume. So
12:44
Speaker 4: but that was a difficult one. I've become good friends
12:48
Speaker 4: with some of those guys from the duke team, and
12:50
Speaker 4: you know, it is just the spirit of competition, and
12:52
Speaker 4: that's the other thing. And you guys notice as well
12:54
Speaker 4: as anybody in sports, like I remember Pat Raley saying
12:57
Speaker 4: to me, he said, in sports, there's two things as
12:59
Speaker 4: when in the misery.
13:01
Speaker 2: That's really what it is. And there's no way, no matter.
13:04
Speaker 4: How successful you are and how much you've won, those
13:08
Speaker 4: moments are going to resonate the losses, the disappointments, and
13:12
Speaker 4: that's that's no different. Thirty five years later, there's still
13:15
Speaker 4: some frustration and disappointment in not being able to repeat
13:19
Speaker 4: because that is something that you know, not many can
13:22
Speaker 4: say they've done, and very few get the opportunity to
13:27
Speaker 4: try and achieve. So yeah, there's there's frustration and disappointment,
13:30
Speaker 4: but it is a chapter in my journey, and that's
13:35
Speaker 4: one of those ones where, yeah, it's not the most
13:39
Speaker 4: enjoyable memory, but I still enjoy the fact that I
13:43
Speaker 4: had the opportunity to try, and I don't lose sight
13:47
Speaker 4: of that. And I think that's really important just in life.
13:49
Speaker 4: And I you know, you look at some of the
13:51
Speaker 4: most successful people in any capacity, you know they don't
13:55
Speaker 4: allow the failures to define them.
13:57
Speaker 2: And they all had them.
13:59
Speaker 4: They all there's no really successful person who didn't fail
14:03
Speaker 4: several times, and they didn't look at his failure.
14:06
Speaker 2: They looked at it as an opportunity to grow and learn.
14:09
Speaker 4: And the disappointing part for us was we wouldn't get
14:12
Speaker 4: another opportunity because we were seniors.
14:15
Speaker 1: Well, and Greg, I think you're talking about, like what
14:18
Speaker 1: the heart of a champion, right, Like the heart of
14:20
Speaker 1: champions get consumed with what could they have done slightly
14:24
Speaker 1: better in order to triumph that one additional time. And
14:28
Speaker 1: I think that's one of the cruel elements of sports
14:30
Speaker 1: is the team that technically finishes second is deemed as
14:34
Speaker 1: a loser, where no other context in life with somebody
14:38
Speaker 1: who finished second in the most competitive landscape ever deemed
14:41
Speaker 1: themselves a loser. And I'll just share one quick story
14:44
Speaker 1: when I worked for the Texas Rangers, when we lost
14:47
Speaker 1: the World Series in twenty ten and twenty eleven. Michael
14:50
Speaker 1: Young was kind of our captain at the time, one
14:53
Speaker 1: of our best players, but clearly one of the best
14:55
Speaker 1: leaders we had on our team. And it was about
14:58
Speaker 1: ten years later after that that I said to him, here,
15:01
Speaker 1: I just want to let you know I couldn't be
15:02
Speaker 1: more proud of what you guys accomplished in twenty ten
15:05
Speaker 1: and eleven. And he just looked at me and said, well,
15:07
Speaker 1: thank god you said it, because I feel like it's
15:09
Speaker 1: like this almost badge of shame that we fell just short.
15:13
Speaker 1: And it's like, so, yeah, you want to strive for excellence, right,
15:15
Speaker 1: but you do want to celebrate those moments of achievement
15:18
Speaker 1: that you know it took to get to those moments
15:21
Speaker 1: where you had the opportunity to compete for that ring.
15:24
Speaker 4: I think that's such a great point. And it comes
15:27
Speaker 4: back to perspective, right that. And Ryan, you know, it's
15:31
Speaker 4: like it's easy to lose perspective in the big picture
15:35
Speaker 4: when you're in the moment, and then if you don't
15:38
Speaker 4: have an opportunity to discuss it and you know, deal
15:43
Speaker 4: with the emotions that bring it about, you can lose
15:47
Speaker 4: sight of the perspective. And I remember, like my rookie
15:50
Speaker 4: year playing for the Knicks, I got the opportunity to play
15:53
Speaker 4: for one of the great coaches of all time in
15:54
Speaker 4: pat Riley. And one thing that I really appreciated about
15:58
Speaker 4: him is, you know, he was very goal oriented. And
16:02
Speaker 4: I never forgetting training camp the year before I got
16:04
Speaker 4: to the Knicks, I think, and he'd the year before
16:06
Speaker 4: he got there, they were thirty one and fifty one, right,
16:10
Speaker 4: So going to the training camp that year, you know,
16:13
Speaker 4: he laid out these goals. You know, we want to
16:15
Speaker 4: win the Atlantic Division. You know, to the average fan,
16:18
Speaker 4: it doesn't sound like a big deal, a one year division, right,
16:20
Speaker 4: but like he made it an important target for us.
16:25
Speaker 4: He gave us a goal and that was one of
16:27
Speaker 4: winning Atlantic Divisions. So that year we won fifty one
16:31
Speaker 4: games and lost everyone. And then that's since we had
16:33
Speaker 4: the same roster, we just had a different coach and
16:37
Speaker 4: so that perspective, so we looked at it to your
16:40
Speaker 4: point that the already right. So we lost in the
16:42
Speaker 4: second round in seven games to the Bulls, But man,
16:46
Speaker 4: that was a successful season.
16:48
Speaker 2: You know.
16:48
Speaker 4: We we we had perspective, you know, seeing where we
16:51
Speaker 4: had gone and what have you and so that it's
16:54
Speaker 4: so true what you say is like, as a competitor
16:58
Speaker 4: and athlete, like you know, thirty thirty two high remain
17:01
Speaker 4: teams you have in your respective sport, you finished second,
17:05
Speaker 4: you know, a the Olympics, you get a silver medal.
17:08
Speaker 4: You know, like you're not necessarily looked at as a
17:10
Speaker 4: loser or failure. But for some reason, at the professional
17:13
Speaker 4: level oftentimes we do we look at it as a disappointment,
17:18
Speaker 4: and it is disappointing, but it's not a disappointment. Yeah,
17:24
Speaker 4: you had an opportunity to achieve the ultimate goal. And
17:29
Speaker 4: then I think the other aspect of that is, you know,
17:33
Speaker 4: there are those who will then point fingers as to
17:37
Speaker 4: you know, to blame. And I think, and I used
17:40
Speaker 4: to use this with my kids. I still with my youngests, Like,
17:43
Speaker 4: you know, my youngest and if he misses a shot,
17:46
Speaker 4: you know, he gets frustrated, And I said, well, you know,
17:48
Speaker 4: don't get frustrated that you missed. Figure out why you missed,
17:52
Speaker 4: you know, and try to try to approach it from
17:55
Speaker 4: that way. That way, every disappointment can be a learning experience,
17:59
Speaker 4: you know, as opposed to one that dampens your self
18:02
Speaker 4: esteem and I think that's something I like, I remember
18:05
Speaker 4: talking with Michael Jordan about that, Like he you know,
18:07
Speaker 4: he every time something didn't go well, he really focused
18:11
Speaker 4: on learning from it as opposed to allowing it to
18:15
Speaker 4: put a chink in his armor. He looked at it
18:17
Speaker 4: almost like a you know, when you're a kid, you
18:20
Speaker 4: get the scar, and my Granddad's like, oh, that Bill's character.
18:23
Speaker 4: You know that'll you know, you get cut. And that's
18:25
Speaker 4: how he approached it, and it really is a good
18:27
Speaker 4: perspective to have, Like, you know, you don't look at
18:29
Speaker 4: you don't have to look at a disappointment as failure.
18:33
Speaker 4: You just look at it as an opportunity for growth.
18:36
Speaker 4: And so for me as an athlete, that's really how
18:39
Speaker 4: I approach it, and that's not even how I look
18:41
Speaker 4: at in sports as an analyst. You know, I'll tell
18:44
Speaker 4: people this jokingly, but truthfully, you know, when a team loses,
18:49
Speaker 4: people are quick to say, what you didn't do right
18:52
Speaker 4: to lose? And I always say, you know, the other
18:54
Speaker 4: team they get checks on the first and fifteen too.
18:56
Speaker 4: You know they're they're they're playing to win too. And
18:59
Speaker 4: sometimes it's not that you didn't do some it's that
19:02
Speaker 4: they did and you know, it doesn't take away from
19:05
Speaker 4: your greatness. It's just a matter of on that night,
19:09
Speaker 4: they did something better than you did. And the good ones,
19:13
Speaker 4: when you get an opportunity for redemption, you kind of
19:15
Speaker 4: can write the ship if you can learn from the
19:18
Speaker 4: experience and improve upon it.
19:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, Greg, I always thought about it. Their three outcomes
19:24
Speaker 1: to every game we watch or we play. One is
19:27
Speaker 1: we win, and I enjoy winning. That's my favorite outcome.
19:31
Speaker 1: The second is that you won and I got to
19:33
Speaker 1: tip my hat because you just outplayed us. And that's
19:35
Speaker 1: gonna happen from time to time, right, Like you know baseball,
19:39
Speaker 1: we always said there one hundred and sixty two games,
19:41
Speaker 1: everyone's gonna win sixty, they're gonna lose sixty.
19:43
Speaker 2: It's what you do with the other forty two.
19:45
Speaker 1: So like, you're gonna lose sixty games because the other
19:47
Speaker 1: team just was better than you that night. And as
19:49
Speaker 1: you said, you want to grow, you want to get better.
19:51
Speaker 1: The ones that haunt you a little bit are the
19:52
Speaker 1: ones that we lost, you know, where you know you
19:55
Speaker 1: took an active role in helping the other team beat you,
19:58
Speaker 1: And those were the ones that I felt like you
20:00
Speaker 1: had to come away with and like you had to
20:02
Speaker 1: correct some some things that what happened. But I really
20:05
Speaker 1: didn't find the ones where the other team just beat
20:07
Speaker 1: us as too haunting, like that's going to happen from
20:09
Speaker 1: time to time.
20:10
Speaker 4: Those are the easy ones, right, I would throw all
20:12
Speaker 4: fourth because the reality is sometimes.
20:14
Speaker 2: They lose, Right, I like that. I enjoyed those.
20:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, those they are fine too, And I think you're
20:20
Speaker 4: spot on with that. You know, we were I don't
20:24
Speaker 4: know when we're going to air this, but we we
20:26
Speaker 4: were doing Game four last night with the Thunder and
20:30
Speaker 4: the Timberwolves, and so going into the game, you know,
20:33
Speaker 4: we were talking about what we thought. I said, well,
20:35
Speaker 4: you know, in a weird way, the way the Timberwolves
20:39
Speaker 4: won Game three, I said, that actually helps the Thunder.
20:41
Speaker 4: It helps the Timberwolves that they won because they just
20:45
Speaker 4: completely annihilated and went in by forty two points. I said,
20:47
Speaker 4: But when you're a really good team and you get
20:49
Speaker 4: beat like that, first of all, you know that's not
20:51
Speaker 4: who you are, and they know that's not who you are,
20:54
Speaker 4: because there's no team that's forty points better than you
20:56
Speaker 4: at that leint. That's just not a reality. That just
20:59
Speaker 4: means they were on and you were off, and I said,
21:01
Speaker 4: those are the games that are most easiest to respond
21:04
Speaker 4: to as a competitor, you know, as the hard ones
21:08
Speaker 4: are what I call the fifty to fifty games, right,
21:10
Speaker 4: Like to your point, in baseball, you know, you get
21:12
Speaker 4: beat ten tonne Man, not a lot you could have
21:15
Speaker 4: done about that one. But if you lose, but if
21:17
Speaker 4: you lose seven to six, there's a gazillion things that
21:21
Speaker 4: could have gone a different way. A play, you know,
21:23
Speaker 4: there was a play in every inning that could have
21:26
Speaker 4: changed the outcome of that game. Those are much more
21:28
Speaker 4: difficult to deal with, right, Those are the ones that
21:32
Speaker 4: are harder to learn from because there's so much more
21:35
Speaker 4: pain when you get blown out. There is no emotion, right,
21:39
Speaker 4: you've already checked out. You literally don't even have to
21:42
Speaker 4: go over that game, you know, because you already know
21:45
Speaker 4: why you didn't have a chance. And so that's really
21:48
Speaker 4: how I try to approach things, because you are when
21:52
Speaker 4: you compete, there's a chance you're not gonna win. You
21:56
Speaker 4: can play well and lose, you can play horribly and win,
22:00
Speaker 4: and so everything's relative. That's the beauty of competition. Like
22:03
Speaker 4: we like to think we always control our own destiny.
22:07
Speaker 4: We can have a say in it, but that's just
22:10
Speaker 4: not always the case. All you can do is prepare
22:14
Speaker 4: yourself as best you can. But even with that, sometimes
22:18
Speaker 4: the other team's just better.
22:20
Speaker 2: Greg.
22:20
Speaker 3: I'm glad you brought up the New York Knicks getting
22:22
Speaker 3: drafted there after the great run at UNLV, because I
22:26
Speaker 3: want to go back there. We're recording this, as you mentioned,
22:28
Speaker 3: in the middle of the NBA Conference Finals, and you know,
22:32
Speaker 3: not only with the Knicks in the conference finals for
22:34
Speaker 3: the first time in twenty five years, Greg, I want
22:37
Speaker 3: us to take us inside your emotions. But watching Tyres
22:40
Speaker 3: Haliburton hit that shot in Game one, go to the
22:43
Speaker 3: choke sign. I know you were on the Knicks when
22:45
Speaker 3: Reggie Miller infamously scored eight points in nine seconds and
22:48
Speaker 3: did the same. What's it like to see the Knicks
22:51
Speaker 3: back in the conference finals and what are your emotions
22:54
Speaker 3: not only watching the Knicks play in the final four
22:56
Speaker 3: in the NBA, but against the team the Pacers they've
23:00
Speaker 3: had so many great battles against over the years.
23:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is so true.
23:04
Speaker 4: You know the Aria that Ryan so the choke game
23:07
Speaker 4: that that Reggie pulled off. That actually wasn't that nine points?
23:12
Speaker 4: Eight points in nine seconds. That was actually in a
23:15
Speaker 4: series where I think he scored like twenty in a
23:17
Speaker 4: quarter they won. I think it was Game five. The
23:20
Speaker 4: beauty of that was we won that series. We came
23:22
Speaker 4: back to going to the series. The irony though, is
23:25
Speaker 4: the one where he scored those eight we got behind
23:29
Speaker 4: the eight ball because now we're down three to one,
23:31
Speaker 4: and I go back to it when in seven insers,
23:33
Speaker 4: I would say, like, it's the games that cost you
23:36
Speaker 4: when you lose series. Are the fifty to fifty games,
23:39
Speaker 4: the games that you should win or could win, and
23:42
Speaker 4: you lose, right because the blowout games a block game,
23:44
Speaker 4: like each team generally will get blown out once in
23:47
Speaker 4: a competitive series potentially, I mean, they're gonna be the
23:49
Speaker 4: times where they're all close games. But it's last night's
23:52
Speaker 4: perfect example, you know for the Templewolves, like they they
23:57
Speaker 4: lose a two point game.
23:58
Speaker 2: So that's the one you can and get back.
24:00
Speaker 4: Because even though you you're good enough to win a
24:03
Speaker 4: series at this level, it's hard to win three in
24:06
Speaker 4: a row against another really good team because the margin
24:09
Speaker 4: of error is so small. So for me looking at
24:11
Speaker 4: that series, I go back to for this this year's
24:15
Speaker 4: conference finals with the Knicks. To me, I said, you know,
24:17
Speaker 4: Game one is and one that might cost them a
24:19
Speaker 4: series if they don't win it, because that's the game
24:22
Speaker 4: they should have won. You know, you're up. I think
24:24
Speaker 4: they were up eight or nine with a minute to go.
24:28
Speaker 4: You know, you lose that one against a really good team,
24:30
Speaker 4: It's hard to make that game up, right, And so
24:33
Speaker 4: that's where your concern is because now, you know, I
24:36
Speaker 4: would think that the Pacers will play better in Game four,
24:40
Speaker 4: you know, and however it plays out, if they win
24:42
Speaker 4: that one, for all intents and purposes, you feel like
24:45
Speaker 4: that series might be over just because of how hard
24:48
Speaker 4: it is to beat a really good team three consecutive times.
24:51
Speaker 2: You know.
24:51
Speaker 4: Like that's so I do think about that, and it
24:55
Speaker 4: does put more emphasis on this game for both teams personally. Look,
25:00
Speaker 4: I love the Knicks. I always want to see the
25:02
Speaker 4: Knicks do well. But Brian, you know, like once you
25:05
Speaker 4: get into the business, and like, as an analyst, one,
25:09
Speaker 4: I've seen so many of these guys.
25:10
Speaker 2: I've watched them grow up.
25:11
Speaker 4: I saw him playing high school and college and now
25:14
Speaker 4: the pros you develop relationships and friendships and so it's
25:20
Speaker 4: not as personal for you as an analyst now at
25:23
Speaker 4: this stage, you know, because I don't necessarily work for
25:25
Speaker 4: a team, and I'm a fan of the game, so
25:29
Speaker 4: you know, it's a little bit different in my mind.
25:32
Speaker 2: I'm always happy to see them do well.
25:34
Speaker 4: But you know, I Rick Carlis is a really good
25:37
Speaker 4: friend of mine, you know, so I'm always happy for
25:40
Speaker 4: his success. Tyre's Hallibert, Andrew Nemhart, I've known him since
25:45
Speaker 4: he was in high school, and so you like to
25:48
Speaker 4: see the success of these individuals. And so of course,
25:52
Speaker 4: if the Knicks win, I'm going to be thrilled for him.
25:54
Speaker 4: But I'm not going to be unhappy for the Pacers
25:57
Speaker 4: if they were to go on a win, because I
26:00
Speaker 4: do like their team, you know, And so for me,
26:02
Speaker 4: that's kind of how I approach it. And my New
26:05
Speaker 4: York brethren, they get mad at me when I when
26:07
Speaker 4: I say stuff like that, but it's true, you know,
26:09
Speaker 4: like after a while, you can become a little disconnected,
26:12
Speaker 4: like in basketball in college, Like, okay, I'm.
26:15
Speaker 2: A runner Rubel, right, I don't really follow my team
26:17
Speaker 2: as much anymore.
26:18
Speaker 4: I will now that Josh Pastor got the job, you know,
26:21
Speaker 4: I'm gonna root for him and pull for him. But
26:23
Speaker 4: my oldest son went to Carolina, so I you know,
26:26
Speaker 4: I tend to have an affiliation with them. I play
26:28
Speaker 4: with Hubert Davis with the Dick. So like you know,
26:31
Speaker 4: your your allegiances and your loyalties and your your loves.
26:36
Speaker 2: Can they can translate and they can change. You know.
26:39
Speaker 4: How many times do we see guys that when their
26:41
Speaker 4: kids grow up, they go play somewhere else. It might
26:44
Speaker 4: be a rival that you play that Now all of
26:46
Speaker 4: a sudden you're in that that arena with the hat
26:48
Speaker 4: on for that school that your son's at and the jersey.
26:51
Speaker 2: Like that's just the way life works.
26:53
Speaker 4: And so for me working at Turner and being an analyst,
26:57
Speaker 4: I'm just a fan of the game and I just
26:58
Speaker 4: try to really be as objective about it and not
27:01
Speaker 4: allow the emotions to get into it.
27:04
Speaker 2: I want to see a great game. I'm marvel at
27:06
Speaker 2: Jalen Brunson.
27:08
Speaker 4: I think that that Tims has done a hell of
27:10
Speaker 4: a job with this group. I think it's compelling for
27:13
Speaker 4: our sport. Like the one thing I do root for
27:16
Speaker 4: is the NBA. Okay, Like I root for our sport,
27:20
Speaker 4: and so I love the fact that we had in
27:23
Speaker 4: the conference. Simmis eight teams, and I said to France,
27:25
Speaker 4: and you know, that's probably the first time in my
27:27
Speaker 4: life that in the Semis I felt all eight teams
27:30
Speaker 4: could win it, and I wouldn't have been surprised if
27:33
Speaker 4: either had won it, you know, like there was a
27:35
Speaker 4: case to be made for each And so that's kind
27:38
Speaker 4: of where I am at this stage, of just loving
27:41
Speaker 4: the matchups, but also just appreciating the moment and the
27:46
Speaker 4: growth of our gameg Greg.
27:49
Speaker 1: One thing that Ryan and I've talked a lot about
27:51
Speaker 1: is the composition of championship rosters, and I just be
27:54
Speaker 1: curious your take. I think I'm saying this right When
27:57
Speaker 1: you came in the league, it was kind of the
27:59
Speaker 1: end of the Mad and Bird era and Michael was
28:02
Speaker 1: kind of in full form right now. Do you feel
28:05
Speaker 1: as if we're seeing with Brunson and Sga and Ant
28:09
Speaker 1: and Halliburton, is this the wave of a new era
28:12
Speaker 1: of superstars? And the other conversation I have I'd like
28:15
Speaker 1: to ask you about is you played eleven years in
28:18
Speaker 1: the NBA. You played in the playoffs and eight of them,
28:20
Speaker 1: I believe, But you played as a twenty four year
28:23
Speaker 1: old man. You played as a thirty three year old man.
28:26
Speaker 1: What was your difference in your preparation and your perspective
28:29
Speaker 1: when you were the young, upstart rookie versus when you
28:32
Speaker 1: were the veteran, Because objectively speaking, it seems like these
28:36
Speaker 1: four rosters are pretty young. You know that these aren't
28:39
Speaker 1: laden with a lot of experience. What's your perspective on
28:44
Speaker 1: these four superstars up and coming? Is this the start
28:47
Speaker 1: of a new era? And also just your feeling about
28:49
Speaker 1: how much experience plays into these playoffs and how did
28:53
Speaker 1: it personally impact you.
28:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that's a really great question, and I
28:57
Speaker 4: would say, first and foremost it goes back to the evolution,
29:01
Speaker 4: because a twenty four year old today oftentimes has been
29:06
Speaker 4: in the league four or five years. And I think
29:10
Speaker 4: it's just also the growth because when you know, twenty
29:14
Speaker 4: thirty years ago, there was always this start of a
29:16
Speaker 4: pecking order that you had to pay your dues, that
29:18
Speaker 4: you had to you know, you had to take the
29:20
Speaker 4: same path as all those who were before you. And
29:24
Speaker 4: what you're seeing though now, and you see it in baseball,
29:27
Speaker 4: you know this that like twenty thirty years nobody was
29:31
Speaker 4: coming into the majors at nineteen or twenty and if
29:34
Speaker 4: they got there, they weren't having an impact. And I
29:37
Speaker 4: remember when kids started coming out of high school, initially
29:41
Speaker 4: they were non factors. We didn't have the scouting you
29:45
Speaker 4: know back then, you know, the international player impact. We
29:48
Speaker 4: didn't have the resources to really get a better sense
29:51
Speaker 4: and feel for who would project to be really good.
29:54
Speaker 4: And so I think you see a similar dynamic. Yeah,
29:57
Speaker 4: there is somewhat of a changing of the guard, but
30:00
Speaker 4: the other aspect of it is there's just tremendous parody.
30:04
Speaker 4: I remember when I first started broadcast. It's harder to
30:07
Speaker 4: talk about it when you play because in the moment
30:09
Speaker 4: when I was a twenty four year old, to your point, kid,
30:12
Speaker 4: I really was a kid because I was just finishing
30:14
Speaker 4: my rookie year, going to college for five years, and
30:18
Speaker 4: you just assume you're going to always win, because I
30:21
Speaker 4: had only won my whole life. I wasn't state championships,
30:25
Speaker 4: national championships, and now I'm playing for pat Riley and
30:28
Speaker 4: heat only won. So you tend to think that's just normal,
30:32
Speaker 4: and you don't always appreciate the process that it takes
30:36
Speaker 4: to win, right because you've gotten accustomed to it. And
30:40
Speaker 4: then when you get older, everything does change because your
30:44
Speaker 4: role changes oftentimes the situation, you know, the expectations could
30:49
Speaker 4: also change. You know, maybe you're playing for a championship
30:52
Speaker 4: caliber team when you're older or when you're younger, and
30:56
Speaker 4: those that those roles juxtaposed against each other had changed.
31:00
Speaker 4: But I think younger players now are far more prepared.
31:05
Speaker 4: They have a belief system that's far superior to what
31:11
Speaker 4: people had twenty thirty years ago. Because I remember, even
31:14
Speaker 4: coming out of high school, you don't have that perspective.
31:18
Speaker 4: I remember I was a senior in high school and
31:20
Speaker 4: I used to go and play against the guys at UOLB.
31:23
Speaker 4: Now when I was going to be a freshman, that
31:25
Speaker 4: team that you don't be one to the final four.
31:27
Speaker 4: It lost to Indiana they or Indiana won in eighty seven.
31:30
Speaker 4: And I used to in the summer go and play
31:33
Speaker 4: against Mark Wade and Freddie Banks who were the starting guards,
31:35
Speaker 4: and they were going to be seniors, and I was
31:37
Speaker 4: going to be coming in as a freshman, and I
31:40
Speaker 4: felt like I was better than them, you know, pickup.
31:42
Speaker 4: I was just better, you know, I was more talented.
31:45
Speaker 4: But in my mind, I'm thinking I'm better and there's
31:47
Speaker 4: a big difference between me and more talented and being
31:50
Speaker 4: a better player. And so I remember coach telling me,
31:53
Speaker 4: he's like, look, you're not going to really play much.
31:55
Speaker 4: And I was crushed because I was like, but wait
31:58
Speaker 4: a minute, I'm better. But like I'm thinking as a talent,
32:02
Speaker 4: not understanding the nuance of what it takes to win.
32:06
Speaker 4: I'm just basing it off raw talent. And so you
32:10
Speaker 4: see the evolution of that with these guys today. You
32:13
Speaker 4: see a guy like SGA and his ascendants to where
32:17
Speaker 4: he is. You look like, look at Anthony Edwards at
32:20
Speaker 4: twenty three, He's in the second conference final.
32:25
Speaker 2: That's unheard of. You know.
32:26
Speaker 4: Lebron was the first to kind of do that. Like
32:28
Speaker 4: Lebron made a final at twenty two, and that was
32:31
Speaker 4: thought to be a failure. He took a team to
32:34
Speaker 4: the finals at twenty two. Nobody had ever done anything
32:36
Speaker 4: like that before. You know, you go back to Michael.
32:39
Speaker 4: Michael had been in the league six or seven years
32:42
Speaker 4: before he finally got through right to get to the finals.
32:47
Speaker 4: And so you're seeing younger players now preparing and mentally
32:53
Speaker 4: being in a place where their expectation is to succeed early.
32:58
Speaker 4: They say now and it's for all this, why not
33:01
Speaker 4: now why do I have to wait? Why can't I
33:05
Speaker 4: put in the work and have the approach that allows
33:09
Speaker 4: me to succeed at a high level today? And I
33:12
Speaker 4: think organizations are identifying these these players. And like in basketball,
33:17
Speaker 4: I always tell people, when you put a team together,
33:20
Speaker 4: it's not about talent, it's about the fit.
33:23
Speaker 2: It's a puzzle.
33:24
Speaker 4: I always said, basketball is that is a game where
33:26
Speaker 4: you don't win with the five best players. You win
33:29
Speaker 4: with the five that play best together. And so that's
33:32
Speaker 4: really what you see with a team like Indiana. It's
33:36
Speaker 4: the reason why the Knicks and the Minnesota toy trade
33:40
Speaker 4: has allowed both teams to get better, you know, because
33:43
Speaker 4: they fit better. And that's really what you want to
33:46
Speaker 4: look at. And that's why it's hard to win in
33:49
Speaker 4: professional sports because sometimes you'll have people philosophically they just
33:52
Speaker 4: think that if you just go get talent and throw
33:55
Speaker 4: them out there, you're gonna win, and that's like the
33:57
Speaker 4: worst thing you could do.
33:59
Speaker 2: And the pay are a perfect example of that.
34:02
Speaker 4: You know, if you broke the Pacers down individually in
34:05
Speaker 4: terms of talent, they're probably gonna be fourth of the
34:10
Speaker 4: final four teams. But if you for me, if I
34:14
Speaker 4: said who are the four best teams? I probably say
34:18
Speaker 4: they're second because I think OKC as the team is
34:23
Speaker 4: comparable to them, but they just have a little more
34:26
Speaker 4: talent two way talent. But but Indiana's right there. And
34:31
Speaker 4: having said that, you know the Nick and Morton Stiel
34:33
Speaker 4: capable winning that series. Minnesota's got there back against the
34:36
Speaker 4: wall now down three to one, but had they won
34:39
Speaker 4: last night, they would have had a great opportunity in
34:41
Speaker 4: that series. And I think that's what you're looking for
34:44
Speaker 4: in terms of team building, and you've done that, Like
34:47
Speaker 4: it's you've seen teams get to the World Series. They
34:50
Speaker 4: weren't the most talented teams. They you know, you can
34:53
Speaker 4: have the least talented team, but if you got a
34:55
Speaker 4: great age, he's gonna get to pitch three times, you know,
34:59
Speaker 4: and and he could he could he could potentially pitch
35:02
Speaker 4: deep into the into each game, and that gives you
35:05
Speaker 4: a decided advantage in hockey. If you got a hot goalie,
35:09
Speaker 4: you know, you can ride that guy. He can play
35:11
Speaker 4: every game. And so you know that that plays a
35:15
Speaker 4: role in it. I just think that it's kind of
35:17
Speaker 4: like technology in our society as it's evolved. I think
35:21
Speaker 4: the thought process and the preparation of young people has
35:27
Speaker 4: also evolved, and these guys come in far more mature.
35:31
Speaker 4: Like I use the line of like when I played,
35:35
Speaker 4: the best teams all had five or six knuckleheads on them,
35:39
Speaker 4: like guys that were just spastic and you just had
35:42
Speaker 4: to figure it out. You're you're gonna be hard pressed
35:46
Speaker 4: to find a knucklehead or two on a team today.
35:49
Speaker 4: Generally speaking, these these young players, they have high character,
35:53
Speaker 4: They're really professional, they work extremely hard. They understand their value,
35:59
Speaker 4: you know, they they know what it takes to be successful,
36:02
Speaker 4: and if you give them the proper vehicle as a
36:06
Speaker 4: front office, you're going to be rewarded.
36:09
Speaker 3: Craig, You've had a long and successful basketball career. But
36:12
Speaker 3: I imagine of all the things you've done in basketball
36:16
Speaker 3: as a player now as an analyst, one of the
36:19
Speaker 3: most rewarding has to be watching your son Cole play
36:21
Speaker 3: for the Orlando Magic.
36:23
Speaker 2: What's that like.
36:23
Speaker 3: It's rare where there are two generations of NBA players
36:26
Speaker 3: in the same family. What's it been like for you
36:29
Speaker 3: to watch Cole? He was drafted out of North Carolina
36:31
Speaker 3: by Orlando in the twenty twenty draft. He's found a
36:34
Speaker 3: nice role with the Magic over the last five or
36:36
Speaker 3: six years. What's it like watching him play and what
36:38
Speaker 3: are the main differences between when you played and then
36:42
Speaker 3: watching a child play at the highest levels.
36:45
Speaker 4: Well, it's I would say as a parent, man, it's
36:49
Speaker 4: the most nerve wrecking thing to see. The beauty of
36:53
Speaker 4: it was. It was his choice. You know, I'm a
36:56
Speaker 4: big believer in like with kids. You know, you let
36:59
Speaker 4: you kids tell you what they want to do because
37:03
Speaker 4: you can learn all the same life lessons and values
37:06
Speaker 4: no matter what they choose to do, whatever be a
37:09
Speaker 4: sport or whatever discipline. You know, they just got to
37:12
Speaker 4: find a discipline and then the processes to succeed that
37:15
Speaker 4: discipline are really the same, they really are. And so
37:18
Speaker 4: in that regard, that was nice. He had a passion
37:21
Speaker 4: for basketball early on, and it definitely allowed our connection
37:25
Speaker 4: to grow because you got something in common. And I
37:27
Speaker 4: use that because I have two daughters as well, two boys,
37:30
Speaker 4: two girls, And like, my youngest daughter is hugely in
37:34
Speaker 4: the dance and she's really good at it, but it's
37:37
Speaker 4: not necessarily something that I'm as familiar with, right like
37:41
Speaker 4: ballet and jazz and all these different discipline she's into.
37:46
Speaker 4: But she has the best work ethic probably of anybody
37:49
Speaker 4: in my family. You know, like she she doesn't have
37:53
Speaker 4: to be coached up or say hey, you need to
37:55
Speaker 4: work on it.
37:56
Speaker 2: She just does it on her own.
37:57
Speaker 4: And so in Cole's k he was very similar in
38:01
Speaker 4: terms of you know, he had a really good work ethic.
38:04
Speaker 4: He was really focused on that's what he wanted to do,
38:06
Speaker 4: almost to a fault, because had he not done it,
38:09
Speaker 4: I don't know what the hell he would have done.
38:10
Speaker 4: You know, he would have probably played overseas, gotten the
38:14
Speaker 4: coaching or something because he does love basketball, and I said,
38:18
Speaker 4: he has other interests, but it is it's fine. I've
38:21
Speaker 4: kind of adopted Orlando because of him, right what we
38:23
Speaker 4: were talking about with your son, Like, so I became
38:26
Speaker 4: a huge Magic fan.
38:27
Speaker 2: I love their coachest to have, I love their front officer.
38:29
Speaker 4: It's a great organization, Like they really do things the
38:32
Speaker 4: right way and their patient group. They're not it's not
38:36
Speaker 4: a championship now or we got to blow it up
38:40
Speaker 4: and start over it. They're just in the process of
38:42
Speaker 4: building towards it. And so it's been a lot of fun.
38:45
Speaker 4: It's been a total blast in that regard. Frustrating at times,
38:49
Speaker 4: as well as as it's the case for all of
38:51
Speaker 4: us his parents. Sometimes I would assume, but I've enjoyed it.
38:55
Speaker 4: I'm happy for him. He's over in Japan right now.
38:57
Speaker 4: He's a big anime guy and Pokemon, so he's living
39:01
Speaker 4: his best dream. And I say, hey, you got you
39:03
Speaker 4: know about about time to get back to start training
39:06
Speaker 4: getting ready for next season. So h yeah, I'm still
39:10
Speaker 4: Dad in that regardless still, But it's also frustrating because
39:14
Speaker 4: as they get older, you kind of have to let
39:16
Speaker 4: the leash go, you know, and then it's not so
39:19
Speaker 4: much about being dad as it is about trying to
39:21
Speaker 4: be a resource and a friend at that point, because
39:28
Speaker 4: his decisions are his h and you got to try
39:32
Speaker 4: not to impose yourself upon his world as much. Even
39:37
Speaker 4: if I may disagree with something, it doesn't help if
39:42
Speaker 4: he's not willing to interact and engage and so, like,
39:45
Speaker 4: it does take time for me to like, Okay, I
39:47
Speaker 4: gotta I'm not Dad in that regard anymore.
39:50
Speaker 2: I can't tell you what to do and how to
39:52
Speaker 2: do it.
39:53
Speaker 4: So that part was an adjustment, but overall it's been
39:57
Speaker 4: it's been a pretty cool experience. Listen, he's off the
40:00
Speaker 4: payroll man. You know that's one down. I will take it.
40:04
Speaker 4: I will take it, you know, Greg.
40:06
Speaker 1: It's funny, but I have a fifteen year old son
40:08
Speaker 1: and I was driving him to school today and I
40:10
Speaker 1: was telling him who was going to be on, and
40:12
Speaker 1: I was singing your praises. I was talking about that
40:14
Speaker 1: UNLV team and how exceptional was I was talking about
40:17
Speaker 1: how you guys had I think five guys drafted in
40:19
Speaker 1: the first round over two years off that team, about
40:22
Speaker 1: your eleven year NBA career, eight times going to the playoffs,
40:26
Speaker 1: all your broadcasting, and he's he just paused and said,
40:28
Speaker 1: wait a minute, you're having Cole Anthony's dad on the
40:31
Speaker 1: guy who does the voice for NBA two K. And
40:34
Speaker 1: I was like, yep, that's that's the guy. And it's like,
40:37
Speaker 1: you're now cross generational, your relevant across a number of
40:40
Speaker 1: different generations. Tell us a little bit about how you
40:42
Speaker 1: got into NBA two K and how often you get
40:46
Speaker 1: your voice recognized by the next generation of fans.
40:49
Speaker 4: That is the weirdest thing for me, because obviously kids
40:53
Speaker 4: didn't see me play. Hell, it wasn't even an HD
40:55
Speaker 4: when I played right, it was that ste back bit.
40:58
Speaker 4: And so you know, what's really cool is like you
41:01
Speaker 4: could be somewhere like with my younger, my thirteen year old,
41:04
Speaker 4: and you know, kids will I'll say something and they
41:07
Speaker 4: don't even know who I am, but they know my voice.
41:11
Speaker 4: That is really weird. That is like the weirdest thing
41:14
Speaker 4: I've ever seen. And I gotta say it took me
41:18
Speaker 4: a while to get used to it. You know, we
41:21
Speaker 4: have they basically with two K, they wanted to create
41:25
Speaker 4: a game that mirrored the NBA, and so they brought
41:29
Speaker 4: a lot of the broadcasters in and they're a great
41:32
Speaker 4: group to work with. And I can't even tell you
41:34
Speaker 4: I've just spent over a decade now that I've been
41:36
Speaker 4: doing this, And it is also a cool way to
41:39
Speaker 4: stay connected with young people with it's because my youngest
41:42
Speaker 4: son loves to play and we do the my player
41:45
Speaker 4: and his friends come over and play, and so for me,
41:49
Speaker 4: it's good for the ego to still say somewhat relevant
41:54
Speaker 4: with young people because our worlds can be really different,
41:59
Speaker 4: but the commonality of sports and video games kind of
42:04
Speaker 4: allows us to stay connected. So I've thoroughly enjoyed that.
42:08
Speaker 4: And we got to probably get ready to start taping
42:11
Speaker 4: for two K twenty six here pretty soon.
42:16
Speaker 2: Greg.
42:16
Speaker 3: One of the things we like to do here at
42:18
Speaker 3: Rosters for Rings is go way back to the beginning
42:21
Speaker 3: of your sports origin story. Where did your passion for
42:25
Speaker 3: sports start. We know what you've done in college and
42:27
Speaker 3: the NBA and now beyond, but where did your passion start?
42:30
Speaker 3: You mentioned you love baseball as well growing up. I'll
42:32
Speaker 3: take us back to Greg Anthony as a child growing
42:35
Speaker 3: up in Las Vegas and how you got so interested
42:37
Speaker 3: in sports.
42:38
Speaker 2: Wow, it's crazy. You know.
42:40
Speaker 4: I grew up in a poor environment and sports was
42:46
Speaker 4: something that was free es Like you could you know,
42:50
Speaker 4: you could go to the rec center, you could play,
42:53
Speaker 4: and I didn't. I just played all the sports, whatever
42:56
Speaker 4: the season was. You know, we played football on the street.
42:59
Speaker 4: We'd played stickotball, you know, we played basketball. We'd go
43:02
Speaker 4: sneak in and the summers, jump the fence at the
43:05
Speaker 4: elementary school or the middle school and go to the
43:08
Speaker 4: courts and we shoot on the chain link nets and play.
43:12
Speaker 4: And the weird thing is I was in third grade
43:16
Speaker 4: and they were getting ready to have basketball trials so
43:19
Speaker 4: the middle for the elementary school.
43:21
Speaker 2: I didn't know anything about it.
43:22
Speaker 4: And one of my friends said to the teachers. Like
43:26
Speaker 4: the coach was mister Edgewood. He's a fourth grade teacher,
43:28
Speaker 4: but he's also a basketball coach. And he goes, coach,
43:31
Speaker 4: you should you should go grant the trial and I
43:34
Speaker 4: got literally never played other than pick up with the
43:37
Speaker 4: rest of the kids. And he says, take a shot,
43:40
Speaker 4: and never So I took the ball from like the
43:43
Speaker 4: top of the key and I shot it and it
43:44
Speaker 4: banked it and then so I would He said, tryouts
43:49
Speaker 4: are going to be Thursday. It's maybe like a Monday,
43:51
Speaker 4: and Tuesday at this time, show up. And that's literally
43:54
Speaker 4: how it started. And the bigger thing was I had
43:57
Speaker 4: a knack for it. But what I mentioned this earlier,
44:01
Speaker 4: what happened was he met with my mom and I
44:05
Speaker 4: had never.
44:05
Speaker 2: Met my father. You know a story.
44:08
Speaker 4: Unfortunately as it is, it's not uncommon, and so I
44:13
Speaker 4: have my granddad as a role model, but he was
44:14
Speaker 4: a lot older, so he wasn't able to physically do
44:17
Speaker 4: a lot with me. And mister Edgewith told my mom said,
44:20
Speaker 4: you know, one day he could play in un LB.
44:22
Speaker 2: We never thought about playing professionally.
44:24
Speaker 4: I mean, I was just trying to get out of
44:25
Speaker 4: the hood and try to make some of my life
44:27
Speaker 4: and go to college, and that moment put me all
44:33
Speaker 4: in into sports, like in basketball in particular, and so
44:36
Speaker 4: that's kind of where it started. And then every day
44:40
Speaker 4: since literally i'd have a ball, have one in my
44:44
Speaker 4: hands and playing.
44:45
Speaker 2: And I always had a love for sports because again
44:48
Speaker 2: it was.
44:49
Speaker 4: Something that you could watch and you could identify with
44:52
Speaker 4: because you played. And so that for me was the
44:54
Speaker 4: beginning back in elementary that's led to this life that
44:59
Speaker 4: I always said, that little orange pill man, It's been
45:03
Speaker 4: quite the blessing to have had that.
45:04
Speaker 2: In my life, you know, Greg.
45:08
Speaker 1: One of the themes, as Ryan mentioned it on Rosters
45:10
Speaker 1: to Rings, is we love these origin stories because it
45:13
Speaker 1: is the tide that binds us all together. Whether you're
45:16
Speaker 1: an excellent player such as yourself or your fun off executive,
45:19
Speaker 1: or your coach or your referee, whatever you're doing, you're
45:22
Speaker 1: giving your life to a game, and it's because you
45:25
Speaker 1: have this amazing bond to it. So and also the
45:28
Speaker 1: gratitude you just expressed towards the coaches around you and
45:32
Speaker 1: the teachers and how those things they make a difference, right,
45:35
Speaker 1: and those are the forks in our road, and we
45:38
Speaker 1: could have gone many different ways all of us, but
45:40
Speaker 1: we all landed in the place we did, and it's
45:43
Speaker 1: because so many people guided us along the way. I
45:46
Speaker 1: got to just ask you one last question before we
45:48
Speaker 1: let you go, which is, you know, from a front
45:50
Speaker 1: office perspective, when you're building a championship team, you think
45:53
Speaker 1: about adding that finishing piece to a roster. And I
45:56
Speaker 1: look at these final four teams. I just want to
45:58
Speaker 1: get your player's perspective when when you add a Cat,
46:01
Speaker 1: when you add a Julius Randall or Devincenzo or Caruso
46:05
Speaker 1: and Hartenstein, what's the player's perspective when you know, I
46:09
Speaker 1: was told by John Hart longtime in Borderline Hall of
46:12
Speaker 1: Fame general manager, when the players do their part, the
46:17
Speaker 1: front office should step up and help them. When you,
46:20
Speaker 1: as a player see a guy like Cat walk into
46:23
Speaker 1: the clubhouse or you know, whether it's Hartenstein Cruzo walking
46:27
Speaker 1: into your locker room or Julius Randall and Devincenzo, what's
46:30
Speaker 1: the player's response When you feel like you're really close
46:33
Speaker 1: to winning that championship and the front office is invested
46:36
Speaker 1: in that extra piece to help you take you over
46:38
Speaker 1: the top.
46:40
Speaker 4: I think one of the things you have to have
46:42
Speaker 4: is a great relationship and as is what you start
46:45
Speaker 4: player and an understanding of who they are, and I
46:48
Speaker 4: think you work from there.
46:50
Speaker 2: And I think if you look at all four of these.
46:51
Speaker 4: Teams, they've kind of done things that you know, they
46:57
Speaker 4: were in different places too, because I remember when you
46:59
Speaker 4: look at Indiana, they made the trade to get remember
47:02
Speaker 4: they got Halliburn in the trade they got Siakam And
47:08
Speaker 4: you know, when you look at the individual moves, you
47:10
Speaker 4: don't necessarily think, man, this is going to get us
47:12
Speaker 4: to back to back conference finals, but in essence it did.
47:16
Speaker 4: And I think what I would look at from the
47:19
Speaker 4: perspective of the front offense is you really want to
47:22
Speaker 4: understand who your best players. You know, think about sports,
47:25
Speaker 4: whether it be baseball, like, you can win a lot
47:27
Speaker 4: of different ways. You really can't Likeston basketball. You can
47:31
Speaker 4: play fast, you can play slow, you can play a
47:33
Speaker 4: lot of guys, you can play a few guys. You know,
47:35
Speaker 4: you can have whatever kind of system you want and
47:38
Speaker 4: you can win with that. But it really all starts
47:40
Speaker 4: with building a system around the identity of your best player.
47:46
Speaker 2: And I think it really has to start there.
47:48
Speaker 4: Now there are times where you don't necessarily have a
47:51
Speaker 4: best player, then you want to develop a culture. But
47:54
Speaker 4: this goes across all sports. All the best teams tend
47:57
Speaker 4: to have great defensive principles, right, so we know we're
48:01
Speaker 4: gonna have that. And then when you figure out and
48:04
Speaker 4: identify that best player, then you've got to find guys
48:07
Speaker 4: that compliment him, not just talent wise, but also in
48:12
Speaker 4: terms of who they are. You know, you can't necessarily
48:15
Speaker 4: go get another alpha if your guy is an alpha,
48:18
Speaker 4: but if your guy isn't an alpha, even though he
48:20
Speaker 4: could be your best player, because that's also the case,
48:23
Speaker 4: and I say this with all due respect, like I
48:26
Speaker 4: wouldn't say that Kevin Durant is an alpha even though
48:30
Speaker 4: he might be my best player. So I would have
48:33
Speaker 4: to then make sure I have guys that can fulfill
48:37
Speaker 4: a role that allows him to be the best version
48:40
Speaker 4: of himself.
48:40
Speaker 2: Right.
48:41
Speaker 4: One thing about coaching or building a team, One thing
48:44
Speaker 4: I learned from coach Chark. He said, you know, you
48:46
Speaker 4: never ask players to do things that are uncomfortable doing
48:51
Speaker 4: because they'll never achieve what they're capable of, you know,
48:55
Speaker 4: And that's the case. I think in a lot of
48:57
Speaker 4: ways for any now, you can make them uncomfortable and
49:00
Speaker 4: you can push them to heights that maybe they don't
49:04
Speaker 4: know they have. But I go back to my puzzle analogy.
49:08
Speaker 4: I need to identify who my best player is and
49:13
Speaker 4: where he strived, where he really has great strengths, and
49:18
Speaker 4: then also identify the areas that he needs help. And
49:22
Speaker 4: I think all four of these teams have done a
49:24
Speaker 4: great job of that.
49:26
Speaker 2: Right, if you look at the.
49:27
Speaker 4: Makeup of their teams, you know, Sga, he's not a
49:31
Speaker 4: tough guy, right, Steph Curry is not necessarily a tough guy.
49:36
Speaker 2: So you get guys that fill that void.
49:39
Speaker 4: Right, So you have a lou Dort who brings that
49:43
Speaker 4: kind of a mindset and fills that void. And you
49:46
Speaker 4: have a Draymond Green that brings that kind of a
49:49
Speaker 4: mindset and fills that boy. Because the formula for success
49:53
Speaker 4: is always the same. May not be the style, but
49:55
Speaker 4: the formula for success is the same in terms of
49:58
Speaker 4: you've got to have great mental toughness, right, you have
50:02
Speaker 4: to have supreme talent.
50:03
Speaker 2: But then there's also there has to be credibility, accountability
50:09
Speaker 2: in chemistry, and so all those things have to work.
50:13
Speaker 2: They and the teams that recognize that.
50:16
Speaker 4: That's why teams miss a lot because they may have
50:19
Speaker 4: one of the three or two of the three, but
50:22
Speaker 4: the best teams have them all. There's a connection, and
50:25
Speaker 4: it doesn't always look like it works. Like you wouldn't
50:27
Speaker 4: think that Draymond and Steph are that close based on
50:31
Speaker 4: the way they play and conduct themselves. But there's no
50:35
Speaker 4: duo with better chemistry maybe that we've ever had in
50:37
Speaker 4: this game, and so being able to identify it early
50:43
Speaker 4: Jokich and Jamal Murray another example of that, right, Like
50:47
Speaker 4: completely different places, culturally, different interests, you know, but it
50:54
Speaker 4: works and it's not always easy to identify. But that's
50:57
Speaker 4: what you really look for, Like, you know, you want
51:00
Speaker 4: your guys to be in a position of comfort, and
51:02
Speaker 4: I feel like that's that's the biggest thing. You don't
51:05
Speaker 4: want to If I got to ask you to do
51:07
Speaker 4: stuff you're not good at, how the hell am I
51:10
Speaker 4: going to ever expect.
51:10
Speaker 2: Us to be really good?
51:12
Speaker 4: You know, if you're spending time doing stuff you don't
51:15
Speaker 4: do well, I want you to be the best version
51:17
Speaker 4: of yourself. And it's my job as a front office,
51:20
Speaker 4: as a coach to find the guys to fill the.
51:22
Speaker 2: Voids in the areas that maybe you don't have.
51:27
Speaker 3: He is Greg Anthony. You watched him play at UNLV
51:30
Speaker 3: for the New York Knicks, for the Vancouver Grizzlies. I
51:34
Speaker 3: don't mean to date you here, the Vancouver Grizzlies, the
51:36
Speaker 3: Seattle that City. Who realize now that I realize you're
51:40
Speaker 3: mister Pacific Northwest, Vancouver Grizzlies, Seattle SuperSonics, and Portland Trailblazers.
51:46
Speaker 3: Now you can watch his excellent coverage on TNT on
51:49
Speaker 3: NBA TV, and for your youngsters and your gamers, you'll
51:52
Speaker 3: watch them and hear them on NBA two K. Greg Anthony,
51:55
Speaker 3: thanks for joining us today on Rosters to Ranks.
51:59
Speaker 1: Please me host that Levine, Ryan McDonough and other general
52:04
Speaker 1: managers every week for Roster Syrings on Apple, Spotify, or
52:08
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts